Fresh Air from WHYY

Schedule

88.5-1

Monday - Thursday

2:00 pm

Fresh Air opens the window on contemporary arts and issues with guests from worlds as diverse as literature and economics.

Terry Gross hosts this multi-award-winning daily interview and features program. The veteran public radio interviewer is known for her extraordinary ability to engage guests of all dispositions. Every weekday she delights intelligent and curious listeners with revelations on contemporary societal concerns.

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

The new book from Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a knockout of a novel about immigration that transcends genre. It's everything from a coming-of-age novel to a romance to a comic novel of social manners to an up-to-the-minute meditation on race.

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Dawes has just released its third album, Stories Don't End. The band has cited Neil Young and Crosby, Stills & Nash among its influences, but channels them with good humor and confidence that its own distinctiveness will shine through.

In Frances Ha, a 27-year-old (Greta Gerwig) navigates New York City — and the transition from prolonged adolescence to proper adulthood. Gerwig and director Noah Baumbach co-wrote the script; they join Fresh Air's Terry Gross to talk about the project.

Monday, May 13, 2013

The fourth volume in Robert Caro's monumental biography of Lyndon Johnson is The Passage of Power; it explores the period between 1958 and 1964 during which Johnson went from powerful Senate majority leader to powerless vice president to — suddenly — president of the United States.

Saturday, May 11, 2013

In her new novel, Claire Messud explores the complicated relationship between two women. After reading the memoir of Elsa Schiaparelli, Patricia Volk found a new understanding of beauty. In a talk called "Persistence of Vision: Reading the Language of Cinema," the director spoke about film history.

Friday, May 10, 2013

Greg Daniels and Mindy Kaling, wrote a number of classic episodes for NBC's The Office, including "Take Your Daughter to Work Day." Kaling, who played Kelly on the show, now stars in her own comedy series, The Mindy Project. Daniels has worked on Saturday Night Live and The Simpsons.

Actor Ricky Gervais starred in, wrote and directed the hit BBC sitcom, The Office, on which the hit NBC series was based. The BBC series premiered in 2001 and ran for two seasons. The NBC Office premiered in 2005 and its series finale will air on May 16.

The comedian, also known for his work on The Daily Show and in films such as The 40-Year-Old-Virgin and Little Miss Sunshine, played paper company Dunder Mifflin boss Michael Scott on the hit NBC comedy series The Office for five years. He left the show in 2011.

The movie is loud and obvious, but it's not a desecration of F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 masterpiece. Baz Luhrmann's interpretation of The Great Gatsby is more like a cartoony Broadway musical version of Gatsby in which no one, alas, sings.

Jenna Fischer's character on The Office Pam began the show in 2005 with the last name Beesly. Nine years later, having married her coworker Jim Halpert (played by John Krasinsk) Pam Beesly is Pam Halpert. The love affair between Pam and Jim has been one of the show's defining plot-lines.

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

On Mother, Maines' first solo record,the singer moves beyond the music that propelled her to fame as a member of the Dixie Chicks. It features an assortment of pop and rock covers, including a reworking of the Pink Floyd song that lends the album its title.

The Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was a sweeping legislative package designed to prevent another financial collapse. Journalist Gary Rivlin says passing the bill was just a first step in a long road to real reform, and the financial system is as vulnerable to disaster it was in 2008.

Even as a child, Patricia Volk knew she would never measure up to her strikingly beautiful mother. But after reading the memoir of fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli, Volk found a new understanding of beauty that had more to do with personality than a pretty face.

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